Introduction

There's was little more than a family resemblance to the Beta Monte Carlo in the Lancia Rally, built in a limited series of 200 to make it eligible for Group B competition.

There was general similarity to the Pininfarina original in the shape of the passenger compartment, but the new car had bumps in the hood, widened wheellarches, air intakes, fairings in the roof to clear crash helmets, and an all-in-one rear end/engine cover which included one of the largest and ugliest rear wings ever.

The whole was adorned with its own version of the then newly-styled Lancia grille. Examination of the car gave ample proof of its competitive aims: there was a monocoque central structure with a built-in tubular roll-cage including two reinforcing members across the door openings, making entry and exit somewhat difficult.

Two tubular constructions attached to the front and rear of this tub complete the chassis, supporting double wishbone suspension, with combined coil spring/ damper units at the front and coil springs with two dampers per wheel at the rear. The suspension was fully adjustable, including thorough provision for changing the ground clearance.

The engine, visible through a window in the top of the engine cover, was mounted in an almost ideal mid/rear position like that of its predecessor, the Lancia Stratos. The resemblance stopped there, however, with the Rally's engine being positioned longitudinally and was a four-cylinder similar to that of the Fiat 131 Abarth, rather than a Ferrari V6.

The lack of cylinders was compensated for by the use of a supercharger developed by Fiat-Abarth, which gave better results than a turbocharger at low engine speeds. The blower was driven at engine speed by a toothed belt and provided a pressure of 0.5 bar. The carburettter was upstream of the supercharger.

The engine had a capacity of 1995 cc, and was of long stroke design with dimensions of 84 x 90 mm. The twin overhead cams drove four valves per cylinder, and dry-sump lubrication was used. Compression ratio is 7.5: 1, and the power output was 151 kW (205 hp) at 7000 rpm, giving 103 hp/litre. Torque was 226 Nm (1661b-ft) 5000 rpm. These figures are for the so-called production engine; we believe that there were units in the Lancia works rally cars that could produce between 245 and 300 hp!

Transmission was through a five-speed ZF transaxle with a 25 percent self-locking differential, and the rack and pinion steering required only three turns from lock to lock. Braking was by means of four 11.8-inch dia. ventilated discs controlled by twin circuits and with twin servos. Except for the doors, the bodywork was in plastic and the car weighed 2579 Ibs ready for action.

Handsome split rim wheels were fitted, and the production car was shod with 205/55 VR 16 Pirelli P7s at the front and similar tyres of 225/50 VR 16 dimensions at the rear. Top speed was in the region of 220 km/h (136 mph) and the standing start kilometre is covered in 28.1 sec. The 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) figure was 8 sec.